You can try your best and keep going. Focus on what you can control and take it one step at a time.
You can try your best and keep going. Focus on what you can control and take it one step at a time.
I previously ran into problems with this setup a few years ago on my i5 4670k, mainly with Steam and Big Picture Mode. Now that I have an upgraded system, I’m planning to try it again... First, the setup itself is solid: MSI B550 A Pro Ryzen 5 3600, 16GB G.Skill FlareX DDR4, GeForce GTX 1050 To OC Creative SB ZxR PCIe sound card, Windows 10 21H2. My main screen is an ACER 1080p monitor and the secondary one is a Vizio V505-G9 in 4K. Due to a medical issue—ulnar nerve compression causing numbness in my left arm and fingers—I can’t play games or use my PC much at work anymore. When I sit on the couch and play on my PS4, it’s much better. What I’m aiming for is adjusting the PC so Steam, GOG, and Epic let me stream 4K with sound through the sound bar instead of the desktop speakers (like the Creative ZxR). But a while back, that approach failed completely. It would crash on 4K or keep Big Picture Mode stuck at 1080p, and the audio always came from the desktop. Do I need to turn off the ACER 1080p and SB ZxR temporarily so 4K becomes the default display and sound source, then come back on them later? Or is there a third-party tool that can switch this up instantly or via automation? Also, has Big Picture Mode improved enough for Steam now? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! And please note, I still use my Sound Blaster—my neighbors won’t tolerate those tracks any longer...
One option is to upgrade the monitor to a 4K supersampled display with matching resolution. In Windows settings, you should be able to select the output device for sound. If your TV supports HDMI or audio passthru, it simplifies things further. You might need an audio cable to connect the soundbar to the TV’s passthru if available. Use Soundblaster->soundbar->tv. Then in Windows, adjust the display settings so the TV appears where content is shown—this usually takes around 10 seconds.
The sound bar connects to the 4K via both optical and analog cables (I often alternate between them since one delivers better volume than the other based on the source). I definitely don’t want gaming audio on the SoundBlaster—my goal is to use Nvidia Audio through HDMI so the TV transmits it through the sound bar. My living room has the TV on the north wall while my desk and PC are on the east wall, making it tricky to enjoy FPS games like Doom when everything to my left sounds as if it’s coming from the right!
I just spent three hours trying to fix things. Most of the problems from years past are resolved, but the main issue is that many games launch in full screen, low quality, or default to 60 frames per second. My 4K TV can’t show them because it’s stuck at 30 fps (though 60 fps at 2160p works on my Windows desktop). This makes it hard to set up unless the ACER is turned on and active, which sometimes isn’t enough. For example, Gauntlet: Slayer Edition froze my 4KTV with stuttering audio unless I pressed ALT+TAB to switch to desktop and sound. Clicking the game window again forces full screen, and there’s no signal warning on the 4K display. In short, I’d waste a lot of time tweaking config files and registry entries just to get these games to work in a windowed mode until I can play them comfortably at my desk.